First bitsa Tele build

knuckleberryfinn

I'm thinking about making my first bitsa Tele but not sure where to get parts at the right price. For example, there are loads of Tele necks on ebay for hugely varied prices - how do I know what's good? I'm looking to build up a vintage-style one, so soft v, gloss finish (preferably nitro I suppose), maple neck, vintage diameter tuners. I should be working to a strict and relatively low budget, but you know how it is if something tasty is put in front of you...

Cheers,

Paul

PS Just discovered this is where the MR exiles have congregated. It's nice to join you again.

Deadman

Welcome back. I've got a two piece unfinished walnut body from guitarbuilduk if you're interested. There's loads of info on here too so fill your boots.

ThePrettyDamned

Guitarbuild or boobooguitars on ebay for bodies (boo boo can have proper bargains, especialyl if you don't mind mismatched grain for a solid body finish).  

For a neck, I got mine from here.  It was a fairly cheap, 1 piece flamed maple.  Terrible quality nut, but the fret work was fine and the truss rod was fine, which are the most important bits.  If you want to guarantee a level of quality, Warmoth do quality necks.

DeeTee

+1 for boobooguitars. My tele body was something like £20 plus delivery. Might even have been £15.99.

knuckleberryfinn

I had never heard of either guitarbuild or booboo, and Google didn't find them either, so thanks for the leads. £20 for a tele body is just ridiculous. I'm after the lightest body possible, so walnut is probably not a good idea! Thanks for the offer though.

I really like the look of Retro169's tele bodies. I think he's pretty new, so I don't know if anyone has any experience of his stuff. I am not usually into relic'd stuff but they look very tastefully done.  www.facebook.com/Retro169  Bit pricey though. 

Deadman

It's 2.4 kg, but I know what you mean. Enjoy.

DeeTee

Guitarbuild and boobooguitars both sell as auctions and buy it now, IIRC. The real bargains are at auction.

randomhandclaps

Sorry to kind of hijack but I am on the lookout for a Walnut Tele body, I have contacted Guitarbuild, but @Deadman how much would you want for yours?

 

knuckleberryfinn said:

I'm after the lightest body possible,

 

Which is good because a lot of folks seem to increase price with weight.

Fusionista

Bear in mind all these woods have tonal characteristics.  Ash is the classic tele bodywood. That said, I've got a mahogany/maple top thinline and a basswood through-neck Esquire. If you want light - basswood is good (it's actually limewood, and there are no 'bass' tonal implications whatsoever).  The Saxons used it to make shields, so why not use it to make an axe ? (apologies:)

Deadman

randomhandclaps said:

Sorry to kind of hijack but I am on the lookout for a Walnut Tele body, I have contacted Guitarbuild, but @Deadman how much would you want for yours?

 

knuckleberryfinn said:

I'm after the lightest body possible,

 

Which is good because a lot of folks seem to increase price with weight.

*sorry knuckleberryfin*

RHC: Joesa acquired it from Jooky for me a fortnight ago on here. I'm just too busy for the next two years so £45 delivered. Exactly what I paid Jooky. Pics if you want em.

knuckleberryfinn

No worries. 45 seems to me to be a good price. In fact, I'd be willing to take it if RHC decides against it.

Deadman

My camera's at work, as is the body. I'll pop some pics up of it later today.

randomhandclaps

Apologies again but pic would be good - I'm sure it's lovely as I am pretty certain by the time I made my mind up Jooky had flogged it.  That said if knuckleberryfinn likes the look of it and wants to take it give him first dibs as it was his thread after all and I won't have time to build anything until the new year anyhow.

dchwhite

If you do end up looking for a body, I would be tempted to send the chap who runs Guitarbuild a message, either through eBay or his website. There are more than a few bodies listed under both the Guitarbuild and BooBoo seller IDs, and I wonder if a message suggesting a budget and asking what was available might result in a conversation with a happy ending*.

He did tweet the other day that if you signed up to his newsletter, you'd get a 25% discount code for use on his website, too. I haven't seen the code yet, or I'd have posted it up here, but might be worth dropping that into any chat you might have with him.



.................
*No, not that sort, before anyone starts.

Deadman

There's too much nobleness going on in this thread! RHC is stepping aside if you want it knuckles, very cool.

Pics of walnut body. Note that the upper front bout is contoured slightly.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/mightylav/tele001_zps40b9eab4.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/mightylav/tele002_zpsf88385b2.jpg

knuckleberryfinn

Balls! On two counts. I just bought one from guitarbuild without discount, and quite fancy the walnut one. Damn my impatience. Maybe I should build two teles, and I'm not even joking. Though I'm not sure about that contouring.

Deadman

No worries. @randomhandclaps do you want it as I have someone else waiting.

GuitarMonkey

knuckleberryfinn said:

Maybe I should build two teles, and I'm not even joking.

No-one ever builds just one Telecaster....

randomhandclaps

@Deadman. ; It's a beautiful grain and would be perfect but I just remembered Jooky saying it has an extra roll by where you are would sit doesn't it?  As shallow as it sounds I love and would want one with the square edge of a standard Tele body.

It's a shitter because other than that personal gripe the body is luscious.

Deadman

Yeah it does have an air of stratness about it. I'll contact my 'contact'.

Fusionista

GuitarMonkey said:

knuckleberryfinn said:

Maybe I should build two teles, and I'm not even joking.

No-one ever builds just one Telecaster....

Hehe